Tinker Bell
'Tinker Bell '(also nicknamed Tink or Miss Bell) is a feisty fairy and major character in Disney's 1953 film, Peter Pan, the 2002 sequel, Return to Never Land, and the main character in a popular series of made-for-DVD movies in the Disney Fairies saga. In the many years since her inception, Tinker Bell has become one of the main spokes-characters for The Walt Disney Company and one of its most popular and iconic characters (mostly known for flying towards the screen with a thin wand in her hand, waving it and causing fairy dust to fly out to the screen). Since the release of the original Peter Pan ''in 1953 with actress Margaret Kerry as the reference model, Tinker Bell has been known for being a silent character up until the release of her very own 3D computer-animated film ''Tinker Bell and all of its ever-expanding sequels. Since then, the character has been voiced by Mae Whitman. Background When the film Peter Pan was in development, the filmmakers knew Tinker Bell couldn't have been a mere spot of light as she was portrayed in all previous Peter Pan incarnations. Tinker Bell was designed and animated by one of Walt Disney's Nine Old Men, Marc Davis. Without the aid of a vocal performance, Marc relied on Tinker Bell's expressions for the animation, much like previous pantomime characters such as Pluto and Dopey. Upon the release of the film, Tinker Bell received critical acclaim and continued to shine as one of Disney's trademark characters. Personality and Characteristics Despite her cute appearance, Tinker Bell is very independent, opinionated, sassy, stubborn, and hot-tempered. Upon meeting Wendy, and other human females, Tink immediately shows disgust and irritation, mostly out of jealousy. This drives Tink to perform acts both selfish, and even murderous, much to Peter's annoyance. However, despite her rough interior, at her core, Tinker Bell is devoted and loyal to those she loves, and will eventually come to terms with those she initially resents, should they prove themselves worthy of friendly treatment. This can be seen, most notably, with her relation to Wendy Darling, in the original film. Some fans have assumed that Tinker Bell has a romantic crush on Peter. However, that theory has been contradicted several times by Margaret Kerry, who has said, "Tinker Bell was never in love with Peter Pan, she was sort of a groupie. Peter would go on his adventures and she would get to go with him, and what she was really worried about with Wendy was that maybe he wouldn't take her on the adventures anymore, he would take that ugly old girl! So that's what she was jealous of." As a fairy, Tink can fly and produce fairy dust, which allows others to fly. She is described as being a tinker, meaning that she mends pots, kettles and acorn caps, and is shown to be very skilled, gifted and talented at it too. Physical Description Tinker Bell is described as a common, tinker fairy who is small, slender, hand-sized and fair-skinned. She is feisty and hot-tempered (with her face turning fiery red when angered), but she is also quite cute. She has baby-blue eyes, blonde hair worn in a bun (tied with a blue ribbon in the movies, yet the characters at Disney may appear to have a gold ribbon, or no ribbon) with her bangs out and pointy elf-like ears. She also has a pear-shaped physique, due mainly to her rather large hips. She is usually seen wearing a green strapless dress with a mini-skirt, green shoes with white puffs on her toes and clear, insect-like wings on her back. In the Disney Fairies franchise, she is sometimes seen wearing a variety clothing, though it is clearly based on her original outfit. Trivia Tinker Bell is voiced by Mae Whitman, who also played Patricia Whitmore from Independence Day, ''Girl from ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, ''Leslie from ''Teacher's Pet, ''Shanti from ''The Jungle Book 2, ''and Amanda Willis from ''Nights in Rodanthe,